Patricia Hogue wasn’t the only one reaching for tissues when the staff and children of Otter River Elementary School surprised her with a special assembly Tuesday morning.

Her fellow teachers could be seen dabbing their eyes.
Hogue is retiring at the end of this year after 40 years as an elementary school teacher. Her entire career was spent in Bedford County Public Schools — the last 35 at Otter River Elementary.

Although $1 million was stripped out of the school division’s maintenance fund in this year’s approved budget, the school board was able to replace $300,000 of that by transferring money from the transportation fund, in action the school board took Thursday. The money became available due to savings on fuel costs.
Some costs will go up next year. The school board raised tuition for non-resident students by $170 per year.

Bedford County Public Schools has a student advisory council composed of student representatives of all three high schools and all three middle schools.

The group’s purpose is to relay the concerns of students to the school board. The advisory council meets several times during the year and makes a presentation at a school board meeting at the end of the year.
The students on the 2014-2015 council made their presentation at Thursday night’s school board meeting.

Bedford County Public Schools has a student advisory council composed of student representatives of all three high schools and all three middle schools.

The group’s purpose is to relay the concerns of students to the school board. The advisory council meets several times during the year and makes a presentation at a school board meeting at the end of the year.
The students on the 2014-2015 council made their presentation at Thursday night’s school board meeting.

Spence White remembers, as a student, resenting teachers who didn’t care whether they made their classes interesting or not.

That’s certainly not been a problem for students in his Cavalier Theatre classes at Jefferson Forest High School.
White, the director of Cavalier Theatre since 2010, was to be named as Bedford County Public School’s Teacher of the Year for 2016 during a ceremony Tuesday evening in Boonsboro.

Last year, Bedford Science and Technology Center’s (BSTC) automotive technology program held a benefit car show for one of its own.

Luke Arrington, a senior, was diagnosed with cancer last year. The benefit car show, which was pulled together on short notice, drew 76 entries. It was such a success that Mark Mathia, the program’s instructor, decided to make it an annual event, benefiting a different local charity each year.